Just curious

[End Level Farms]

There is a lady at the barn where my horses are that is freaking out about how long her training has been taken.

How long on average would you say it takes to get a horse from nothing to driving?

The horse in question barely lead and was friendly but didnt know anything would step on and try and run people over and had never even been inside a barn or stall or arena until he stepped foot there. And was afraid of everything?

The person training the horse had to teach him everything. How to lunge, wear a harness, how to steer, how to be social and interact with humans, and finally get the horse driving.

Second part of the question is how long does it take from first hook to driving the horse (who is young) every single day?

Generally with my horses from "Wild" to Driving (Not finished just safe) usually takes about 4-6 months. And because I am a bigger guy I dont drive them hard and heavy but slowly condition them from 2-3 days a week over 3-5 months to driving 5-6 days a week. And backing off if the horse tells me they arent ready. (Example blowing harder than normal, or seeming to struggle at any point in our work out, or if they just seem tired.) I think that driving should be fun for the horses not something they dread. So for me I look at and plan for about 12 months to go from 0-broke driving miniature. That is with a mini who has never had anything traumatic happen to them. (Dog jump out of no where another horse freaking out or just never been taught properly or handled roughly in their past) And even then I would not be sure I would call them Finished.

 

[RhineStone]

At least a year if you don't want to get yourself killed to be able to drive the horse safely. Especially for a novice driver.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

At least a year for a horse with no handling, especially one who is skittish. I've had two green driving horses here, my older gelding who was purchased as a four year old stallion who had been used strictly as a kid's pet (meaning he was used to balloons, kids, screaming toddlers, etc., but had almost no traditional horse-type training such as how to lead politely or keep his mouth to himself) and now my yearling. Kody went from not even leading well to hitched to the cart and trotting over hill and dale in about two weeks

with the friend I bought him from but he was a true natural and most horses would have blown sky-high with so little training. I went back and covered all the missed steps and I wouldn't have considered him a solid driving horse for about another year even though he was more than eager to drive and loved it.

I'm laying all the foundations with the yearling now including voice commands, being desensitized to the whip, learning to stand quietly, getting used to having his feet and mouth handled and things around his legs and stuff swung over his back. As a two year old I'll bit him lightly and introduce him to a surcingle and crupper, letting him do his workouts with the equipment on and we'll see how he handles that. I'm sure I could get him to accept a harness and bit tomorrow if I needed to but I want more than acceptance; I want him to look forward to getting tacked up and see his equipment as Big Boy Stuff that he's excited to wear. That is going to take time. With two year's worth of basic training geared towards driving I could probably get him started in a week as a three year old but will take my time and move forward at the pace he sets. Each horse is different and rushing them past their comfort zone only slows you down in the end.

If he were three or four and arriving with the same amount of handling I'd be bitting him and trying the harness already as he'd be physically ready for those steps but it would still probably take me a year from the first handling to having him solidly in the cart and doing more than the basic stop, start, turn, back up, move into the shafts, go for an easy trail drive. I won't drag my feet if the horse is ready but they're going to have to be the ones to tell me to hurry up!

Leia

 

[My2Minis]

I'm a newbie, and am training one mini. She came knowing how to lead, whoa, back, lunge and had some ground driving in the past. I've been working with her for five months and just put the cart shafts beside her this week and had her walk a few steps without being hitched (after a few sessions of standing in the shafts). I may hitch her up soon for a few minutes if she is still solid.

A horse with a calmer personality and more experienced trainer might be a different story.

 

[Sandee]

I had an old Saddlebred trainer that told me a month to take my (then) 3 yr old stallion, who'd been shown and the guy was familiar with him, to be ready to drive. Oops, I forgot to mention that my boy is so lazy that I can't lunge him. It took him 2 weeks just to get my little sweetie to lunge! A month after that he was driving and had a fairly decent headset. Then the rest of show season before he was very reliable.

Gee, for some reason that trainer doesn't want any more of my horses.

My mare, that I've worked with since she was a baby, was/is much more cooperative and easier to train. I've trained her myself. Starting very late in the 2nd year with the bit and taking 3 or 4 months the next season before putting her in an arena. However, at her 3rd driving show (Nationals) she place 7th out of about 15.

Oh, I should mention my stallion took Champion that same year.

 

[disneyhorse]

I would say from "WILD" to in the cart, at LEAST a year. My colt, anything but wild (well he came pretty wild at three months old, could barely catch him and definitely couldn't pick up feet or anything... but came around in a couple of months to catching and all that) has been in training for two YEARS so far to be hooked. Part of that is his age, but honestly no steps are skipped and I'm STILL a little nervous about our first few months under cart because he's a bit hot to work sometimes. Sometimes lazy, sometimes hot. Just depends on his mood I guess.

Anyway, my colt has already been trained to lunge and lead and such, and I have been ground driving for three months. Probably another couple of weeks till we even drag the cart out.

A horse already broke to lunge and such, would expect to be hooked in about three months if the horse was good minded.

Andrea

 

[End Level Farms]

So honestly the fact that the trainer has only had the horse in for training for 3 months is nothing in comparason.

I didnt think it was but just wanted other opinions as I thought the owner of the horse was joking at the time about how LONG its taken.

 

[MiLo Minis]

When I am working with a horse a lot depends on the owner/client. A horse that is ready for me to drive is not necessarily ready for an inexperienced owner to drive. Not only is every horse different but so is every owner.

 

[Shari]

From an untrained horse, to a polished and seasoned one that most anyone can drive... 2 to 5 years depending on the horse's temperament and trainers/owners ability.

 

[MiLo Minis]

From an untrained horse, to a polished and seasoned one that most anyone can drive... 2 to 5 years depending on the horse's temperament and trainers/owners ability.

...but you couldn't reasonably expect to have the horse away at a trainer's for that length of time and paying for it if the idea was to get it trained for yourself to drive either in show or for fun as it sounds like this woman is wanting. I would say that if you couldn't get a horse settled in harness well enough for a beginner to drive, perhaps with concurring lessons for the owner, within 6 months perhaps it is the wrong horse for her, as a beginner, anyway. This of course would not be a finished driving horse but one that is at least comfortable enough in harness to not freak out over the little things. All this should be explained by the trainer before even agreeing to take the horse on. We are talking 2 completely different things when discussing a personal horse in training compared to one that has been sent out to a trainer. Trainers don't have the luxury of taking their own sweet time but should be honest and up front about the length of time required for each individual horse.

If the horse in question was mentally and physically mature enough to begin harness training, which the trainer should have been able to assess within the first couple weeks of working with him, I would expect that he should at least be in the shafts by now after 3 months of work. Perhaps not ready for the owner to drive but she should be able to see him being driven. If he was not ready that should have been explained to the owner within that first couple of weeks and he should have come home till he was ready in my opinion unless the owner wanted further ground training done with him.

 

[End Level Farms]

From my understanding the trainer explained that it can take between 2-5 months depending on the horse. (And

The horse in question is also driving at this point. But is not suitable for the owner.

Owner from what I have seen doesnt even know how the harness goes on.

She is not looking for show horse just a safeish driving horse.

 

[My2Minis]

In that case, she might be better off looking for an older been-there done that horse for safety. I have one of those and he is worth his weight in gold.

He will tolerate beginners fumbling with his harness and kids driving him. The client could start driving right away if she found a horse like that.

 

[RhineStone]

From my understanding the trainer explained that it can take between 2-5 months depending on the horse. (And
The horse in question is also driving at this point. But is not suitable for the owner.

Owner from what I have seen doesnt even know how the harness goes on.

She is not looking for show horse just a safeish driving horse.

Why do some people think that you can train a horse like you turn on the ignition in a car?.....

That would be like trying to teach your 3 yr. old kid how to divide numbers. They have to learn what a number is first.

 

[Sandee]

In that case, she might be better off looking for an older been-there done that horse for safety. I have one of those and he is worth his weight in gold.

He will tolerate beginners fumbling with his harness and kids driving him. The client could start driving right away if she found a horse like that.

I agree with that. A green horse plus a green driver (unless they are an experienced horse person) equals accident waiting to happen!

 

[Knighthawke]

I have had horses with a trainer to get mine started and have them ready in 30 days for me and road safe. But i am an experienced person. I believe in what everyone else is saying. It depends on the horse. I took one recently to get started and she was the first one that the trainer had to keep for 60 days, before he thought I could handle it, he wants to make sure you can drive them.

I think My2Mini said it well a seasoned driving horse is what this lady needs. She needs to be willing to wait for it to be safe for her or go look for a seasoned horse to teach her. Or does the trainer maybe have any horses he could give her lesson on. I have had a few people that have bought my horses come for lessons and drive a few different horses until they feel confident in handling the horse. Some have ended up buying the horses they learned on.

 

[Skylight_minis]

That really depends on the horses temperment and amount of handling. I have trained a mini to drive in an hour. Course before hand i had put a saddle on her with all kinds of things strapped to it and went for jogs down the road every day. Then I decided to train to drive i put the harness on her and was trying to ground drive but she just kept turning around in circles and i was getting very dizzy so i hitched her to a cart and yell HA slapped her on the rear and took off down the dirt road. Never had a problem with her she never spooked at anything and was an awesome driving horse. Now i do not reccommend this to everyone. Another mare i have i trained her in 2 days one day ground driving second day cart she's also a great driving horse. For the average laid back mini i'd say 2 weeks to get them green broke. If they are wild yep going to be way longer. You really cant put a time on it because the horse will tell you went they are ready and when they arent. Then there are some horses that just arent reliable no matter how much time you put into them. Just like some riding horses arent reliable.

You just have to listen to your horse and the more you can do with them before you hitch them up the quicker they will learn and the safer they will be for you. Cart accidents can be worse and more dangerous than riding accidents. If you can pony your future driving horse while you are driving another one this will also help them to not be afraid of the cart and the noises it makes. Happy training!!